Now here’s the Mando Diao taking on the world tonight

Leipzig experience with Mando Diao...18.-19.12.2010   

Very cold morning in Brno. The railway station is dark, lonely and everything is frozen. Four o´clock in the morning. Waiting for the train to Dresden.

One important thing that is necessary to know about Czech railways is: They are ALWAYS late. No matter what happens, what day, month or season of the year it is. No matter if it´s too cold, too hot or too dark. The trains are always late. With very surprising regularity. And I´m always naive. I always hope that this case will be different. And I´m always wrong.

This time it´s again this silly game that the railway´s employees are playing with us. They are adding the delay every five minutes. Even if it´s clear that the delay will be more than 30 minutes they always start with 5, 10, 15, 16, 17 minutes and 20 seconds.....etc.

So we have to freeze in this fucking cold waiting, instead of knowing right from the begining ´Ok, I have 45 minutes, so I´ll go somewhere where it´s warmer...´ Well no. That´s not the purpose of the railways. You have to suffer.

Forty-five minutes of delay due to technical problem on the engine. The only thing that I have to add is that the train is leaving from Brno. And it´s already 45 minutes late. Why not, right? We´re in the Czech Republic.

On the board of the train we are trying to defrost our bodies. It´s dark outside and Dresden is somewhere in the distance. 

 

Mando Diao force you to get to know so many cities you´ve never visited. Just because there´s no reason for it.

I would never have gone to Gdynia. Why should I? I would never seen Polish sea and this port I learned about in school. Why should I visit northern Poland?

I would probably never have travelled to Berlin. I had some ideas about this city and I always watched the trains going from Prague to Berlin with a certain feeling that I would love to visit this city one day. But I would always choose something else. Because actually there wasn´t any  reason to go there. Until Mando Diao played their Unplugged show.

And now Leipzig. Another strange city that hasn´t been worth visiting for me until today.

Mando Diao definitely changes your preferences.

Now I´m waiting somewhere in the snowy landscape, between Prague and Dresden, wondering what´s happening right now. Why our train is stuck in the middle of nowhere. The truth appears in my mind...I should buy a bottle of wine to survive this journey.

´Ladies and gentlemen, due to change of our engine, our train will be late 15 minutes more.´

When we were traveling to Berlin, our bus was late about two hours. One has to be very patient when traveling.

Every time I did one of these crazy journeys trying to see Mando Diao I realized how different it is to be German (or Swedish) fan and fan from the rest of the world. It´s an adventure. One huge neverending adventure. It´s much more complicated, it costs much more money and effort and sometimes it´s just impossible. (Like the case of radio concert in Bochum where you can only win the tickets on the German radio stations.) But on the other hand it´s a great feeling when you reach the goal. When you finally translate all these German sites, buy the tickets, find the complicated train connections, save all money and survive the journey.

Sometimes it´s a great feeling to know how hopelessly devoted you are that you are able to undergo all this stuff just to see them live. It´s absolutely different being fan in Mando Diao non-friendly countries.

And of course...you have to be a psycho just a little bit. 

Dresden. In that very moment when you cross the border, something happens. Everything changes and you suddenly have the feeling as if you were a child lost in the big hostile world. You notice the´west´. The difference is not that big anymore but it´s still present. You can feel you´re abroad. It´s in the air. I can smell it.

Snow is everywhere and the train takes us to our destination. Leipzig. Another place I´ve never had been before.

Leipzig. And two cups of really tasteful hot wine. Amazing markets, Christmas atmosphere and ´being in another land´.

Our place is amazing. Quite scary and little bit in a Twin Peaks way, but it´s also so romantic and peculiar. The wooden house just a few meters from the Haus Auensee. Lonely camping, just the lights turn on. And us.

 

 

We checked the scene of the future crime. In the dark we were walking around the lake and we were listening to the soundcheck of an unknown band who´s going to have a concert tonight. No one around. Just the dark and the snow. 

And the markets. And a lot of useless things to buy. And then a magazin with Mando Diao in it. I bought it although I don´t understand a single word. Just because Mando Diao are in the magazine. I´ve seen it for the first time and it´s amazing feeling. I had to have it.

Now it´s lying on my table near my bed in this strange place. And Mando Diao are in there.

 ´If it was true´

Today I´ve bought Playboy magazine. Really. Quite handsome guy has sold it to me with a very strange smile. Yeah, the reason is that Mando Diao are AGAIN in it! And what great photos!

So now I´m an owner of two german magazines. And still don´t understand a word in it.

Nine hours on our legs, seven hours right in front of that huge loudspeaker. Will I ever feel my body again?

...2:28 in the morning. We´re in Motel Auensee after Mando Diao concert. 

It all began in the morning when we went for a walk around the Auensee Haus and the lake. The weather was nice and the preparations for the evening had already started. We were observing around a little bit and then left the place to visit markets again and drink some wine. 

We surely needed it. Fucking cold again. And the freezing began very early. Around 4. pm we were watching Björn and Gustaf throught the window on their soundcheck. Cigarettes, Gloria and cold in every single peace of my body. Soundcheck ended with a song I´d never heard before. I wonder if it´s their new song and if we´re gonna hear it tonight. Short pause in our amazing and warm Canadian house, which is situated just a few minutes from the concert venue.

And then about 5.30 pm our neverending waiting on that unbearable cold starts.

It seems like the whole crowd is going to die here, but they still don´t want to let us go inside. Finally, just few seconds after 7. pm our tickets are marked and we´re IN. Haus Auensee is just a big hall with no place to sit and two kiosks where you can buy drinks.

Because we were one of the firsts in the queue, we´re between the firsts who enter there. And we immediately occupy the places in the first row. We don´t know yet how lucky we are. I can´t imagine to bear all these hours without the possibility to hold and lean against the barrier. At 8 o´clock the show starts with a few very intensive tones of drums. In that very moment I realize that we are standing right before the loudspeaker and the sound is more than loud. 

After a short presentation of unknown bald man from the radio Jump, Rooney appears on the stage. It´s a nice begining. The band is nothing special, but guys look handsome, the songs are melodic and they make quite good show. It´s easy to dance and relax.

Second show is an English group White lies. I don´t know their music (same with Rooney except the hit ´When did your heart go missing´) but also this show is great. After White lies I already feel quite tired, thirsty and deaf. Ideal time for Mando Diao.

But instead of Mando Diao appears something what I should call ´My imagination of hell´. This band is called Filter and I have a feeling like if they will play more then 15 minutes I surely die. They played more then one hour. It probably woudn´t have been so horrible if I hadn´t been standing right before the loundspeaker. The lead singer starts the show with the words ´Make some noise!!!!´ And yes. It was a NOISE. Nothing more. Horrible, terrible, absolutely awful. That´s my way how to describe it. One hour with fingers in my ears and all my organs was moved to different places during this show thanks to the shock wave from the laudspeaker. It really throws you off with every single beat.

I was praying for the end and wondering why this type of band who plays completely incompability style of music with Mando Diao is now here. Why they´re playing before our Mando. It was obvious that 99% of people are there just because of Mando Diao and when I looked around all people had fingers in their ears. Three concerts are too much, at midnight I was exhausted. And Mando Diao was only to come. 

The stage changed. The piano was moved nearer to us, Björn´s guitar appeared. It is here. Now it´s their turn.

After (for me) very long Umbau pause, Gustaf, Björn and CJ are coming. Again without Mats and Samuel. Again with the violines in the background. The true music can start.

After these three bands one can very easily realize how huge is the difference between the Music with capital M and the music. It´s like a balsam for the soul (and the body, ears and everything)

Mando Diao. (Two words, baby. Two words.)

Gustaf sits to the piano, C-J takes the bass and Björn with his guitar stands on the microphone.

And they take everything from you in the very first second when the firsts tones of ´Welcome home Luc Robitaille´ rezonate.

The more they take, the more they give to us.

They´re the music.

After the first song from their third album ´Ode to Ochrasy´ they tell us a story from ´Amsterdam´ and then story about ´Misty mountains´ and one mysterious man.

With Gustaf´s words... You know in english...I can´t describe the feelings I have for this band. ´

How we walk´ was followed by ´No more tears´ and my new favourite song since Mtv Unplugged ´Losing my mind´ (the feeling is Canadian ;-) ).

Guys are in a real good mood, joking around, smiling and ...I know that you know that we know.  

Unplugged ´Sheepdog´ and I can´t locate this feeling but I may love them.

Now it´s time for a new song named ´Leave me be´. Wonderful sad song which makes me shiver. You know what is this song...? Well ´Gloria´ and ´High heels´. Gustaf does a really great job in the piano. He looks even hotter then usual. He plays and sings in absolutely stunning way. I´m not the only one who noticed that. Also Björn can estimate what he´s doing. ´Never seen the light of day´ is the penultimate song.

Everything is so near me, everything is so real again. And even ´Dance with Somebody´, the last song, has this magic and makes me forget myself.

The whole night was absolutely epic. It was surreal and unreal even it was one of the most real moments in my life. I still see Björn´s blue eyes in front of me.

And then it ends. Björn goes down from the stage and when he returns he gets angry (no real idea why) and goes away.(Maybe it was just their plan right from the begining or he had an impression that the audience doesn´t cooperate with him like he wants...) Gustaf with C-J play the rest of the song. When also they leave the stage after giving us thanks, the guy from Jump radio appears to tell us another interesting information about the next program, but nobody is listening. The whole crowd is shouting that we want an addition and after that we´re just screaming ´Mando Diao´. The guy looks pissed-off that we are not interested in him and explain to us something in German. Well probably something like that Mando Diao can´t play another songs...they are away. This is the end. And all the people leaving Haus Auensee without any interest to stay there longer. We were there because of Mando Diao. Of course. And it was fantastic. Thank you. 

Next day we´re leaving Auensee in the early hours in the morning, making the firsts traces to the fresh snow. It´s cold and dark, everyone´s sleeping inside their safe places. But we have to go...go to another place, leaving Mando Diao behide just to be able to follow them.

While we´re waiting for the bus, the cleaning works in Haus Auensee are proceeding. We have a last look at this place and we´re saying goodbye to these three amazing days in Leipzig.

I realize that it was today when we´ve seen them. Not so long ago. But the reality is getting closer. If only they could leave me be...leave me be with Mando Diao.